PAC Set To Fight Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

The Times this morning reported a new political action committee, called Fight Back New York, which is planning to raise “high six figures” in multiple State Senate races this year to fight all those who opposed the same-sex marriage bill.

The campaigns first “target” is Hiram Monserrate, who is running in the special election for the seat he was thrown out of earlier this month.

They are playing for keeps:

The committee will start going after Mr. Monserrate, who was convicted of assaulting his female companion in a confrontation that left her requiring more than 20 stitches, by mailing fliers this week to voters in his district. The flier shows still frames of a surveillance video that shows him dragging his companion, Karla Giraldo, through the hallway of his apartment building in Jackson Heights, Queens. He was acquitted of a felony assault charge by a judge, who convicted him of misdemeanor assault.

“He brutally assaulted a woman and tried to cover up his crime,” the flier says. “Now he has the nerve to run again. Many of us have voted for Hiram before. But we cannot vote for him again.”

In the three weeks that remain before the election, Fight Back New York expects to send out at least five different fliers, upwards of 100,000 pieces of mail. The district’s population is around 300,000, but voter turnout in special elections is typically quite low.

Fight Back New York hasn’t decided which senators it will target in the fall, but I think it’s clear that some of the incumbents will be regretting their votes.

It’s Official: Leg Session In Albany Next Week

It’s official. The Legislature will be returning to Albany for a special session at noon next Tuesday. Gov. David Paterson issued a proclamation this afternoon calling lawmakers back to the Capitol.

On the agenda – or rather, on HIS agenda, since the legislators are not legally required to address anything they don’t want to – are: Paterson’s $5.2 billion two-year deficit reduction plan, gay marriage and the spending cap/circuit breaker proposal.

You know what that means, folks: get your butts to New York Equality and start those phones ringing in Albany.

Liz Benjamin – Daily News

MYD Delivers The Goods–Again!

The marriage equality bill is at the top of the Governor’s active list for the day. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in a very unhappy Senator Ruben “I Won’t Stand For A Vote On Homosexual Marriage” Diaz Sr.: 

Not unexpectedly, the move worsened an already bad situation (as if things could really get any worse in Albany).

It caused Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. to jump into the open arms of the Republicans – albeit, he claims, just for a little sandwich break – which so worried Sen. Carl Kruger as to the status of his post as Finance Committee chairman that he just HAD to come over and see what was going on.

Diaz Sr. soon returned to the Democratic fold after receiving what Senate sources insist was a pledge from Sen. Malcolm Smith (remember him?) that the marriage bill would never see the light of day. 

What all this means is unclear. What IS abundantly clear is NYers want it brought to a vote, and they wrote a TON of letters to make that abundantly clear to their State Senators. MYD President Al Benninghoff is in Albany literally as I type this to deliver our latest stack of letters from newyorkequality.com. Look at the mountain, which is nearly twice the size of the last one: 

If you haven’t recently made a call to your State Senator or Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, make the call today! To say that time is running out no longer encapsulates the urgency of the matter. Do it now! 

Pride or Protest? – The Daily Politics 

Sen Liz Krueger to Paterson: It’s About Strategy, Bring ME To A Vote First

Gov Paterson has suggested that 42 absolutely-vital-to-gov’t-operations-type bills be passed before another agenda with marriage equality can be hammered out. Liz Krueger disagrees, and I think she’s right:

“It’s about strategy,” she said. “If you do taxes for local governments and mayoral control, if those get done, the Republicans won’t stay for more. If you want leverage, you say, ‘No, you can’t just go home if you get the mayor off your back and the counties can do taxes.’ I think it’s very important to go to the governor, the only one who can fix this situation, and say, ‘Your active list must include measures that are the true progressive goals of the party.’”

Krueger mentioned reproductive freedom and tenant protections along with marriage equality as part of that package.

Use our FREE calling tool to tell Senator Sampson that he must make sure progressive goals such as marriage equality make it on to the active list TODAY. We don’t have much time before the 2009 session draws to a close.

Senate Special Session Likely–Make One More Call for Marriage Equality TODAY

Gov Paterson is trying to exert control over the Senate deadlock.  He has appointed two mediators to attempt a deal tomorrow (Republican State Senator John Dunne and former LG Stan Lundine). And:

Paterson said that if both sides can not reach a leadership agreement by Tuesday, Court of Appeals Chief Justice Jonathan Lippman would serve as the Senate’s presiding officer.

While Paterson said initial agenda would be limited to time-sensitive legislation, he said other issues, including same-sex marriage and Tier 5 pension reform might be included in later sessions.

We can debate whether this is constitutional later. If the session goes forward, it means that MYD and our New York Equality coalition have a small window of time in which to urge the Senate to put marriage equality on the active list. (The “active list” is the list of bills that will be brought to the floor on any given day in session.)

We’re in full agreement with Senator Duane:

The Manhattan Democrat, who is carrying Gov. David Paterson’s marriage program bill, sent a letter to all of his fellow bill sponsors today in which he declares himself to be “deeply troubled” by the fact that neither Sen. Malcolm Smith nor Sen. John Sampson has pledged to bring the measure to the floor for a vote since the coup:

“I have come to the conclusion that I cannot support any Leader who does not demand that marriage equality come to the floor and pass in 2009. I urge that you, as a co-sponsor of the marriage equality legislation, will do the same.”

That’s why it’s very important that MYDers put the pressure on newly-selected Democratic Conference leader John Sampson to bring the bill to the floor. (He’s publicly ‘undecided’ on the issue.) You can use NYE’s handy-dandy (and FREE!) click-to-call tool to be connected to this office directly.

Do it today–the special session begins on Tuesday!

And don’t forget to follow us at @goMYD, tweet with #nyequality and join our Facebook page.

(P.S. Meanwhile, “coalition” conference GOP+Espada is saying there is no need for the governor to call a special session because they will be holding their own sessions every day this coming week; also, no need for a judge to preside–the Senate has a president pro tem, and his name is Pedro Espada Jr.)

Still On OUR Agenda: Marriage Equality

It’s unclear what the hell is going on in Albany right now, but one thing’s for certain: we still want marriage equality brought to a vote. MYD has been leading the charge through a netroots organizing campaign. We delivered over 1,500 letters to the Capitol with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and have gotten over 46,000 hits to newyorkequality.com, which gave New Yorkers the tools to contact their State Senator and urge them to support marriage equality. 

A talented MYDer has taken the next step by creating a video to support our #nyequality efforts. (BIG shout-out to writer/director/editor Shannon Manning and illustrator Maria Schneider!!) 

Enjoy, share, make viral! And of course, if you haven’t yet, visit newyorkequality.com to contact your State Senator and urge them to pass this important civil rights legislation.

Upping the Ante on Marriage Equality

The voices of support just keep getting louder:

The latest effort comes from the New York Civil Liberties Union, which launched a new Web site that features features videos of 12 lesbian and gay couples from around the state telling the story of how they met their respective partners and urging viewers to contact their local lawmakers and ask them to vote “yes.”

The couples are from key areas represented by lawmakers who are so far holding out on marriage, including Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn and the Syracuse area.

The idea behind these efforts…is to put a human “face” on gay marriage in hopes of convincing lawmakers that this is an intensely personal issue and not merely a political hot potato.

If you haven’t done so already, make sure to visit MYD’s newyorkequality.com to write a letter ot your state Senator and make your voice heard on this important civil rights issue. We delivered a huge stack of letters last week and we need another one soon. View the vote count here. Spread the word!

MYD Delivers The Goods

Yesterday, MYD Prez Al Benninghoff and NYC City Council Speaker Christine Quinn took a trip to Albany. There, they hand-delivered a stack of over 1,500 letters from New Yorkers across the state asking their State Senators to support marriage equality.

For the past week, newyorkequality.com has been the focus of MYD’s grassroots campaign to get a marriage equality bill passed. The site launched last Tuesday, and to date, over forty thousand people have visited. The site is simple: look up the info for your State Senator, and either send a handwritten letter yourself, or MYD will print out the one you type up and hand-deliver it to your Senator in Albany.

As you can tell from the photo, a lot of people took us up on the offer. Countless others wrote in their own hand, entreating Senators to support legislation giving equal marriage rights to all.

MYD also made an appearance on CNN Live yesterday. Our very own Julie Blitzer (official title: Social Media Strategist; less official title: awesomesauce) joined the blogging heads at 12:15PM yesterday to share our thoughts on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination and on California’s decision to uphold Prop 8 (boo!). Watch the clips here and here.

Despite these and many other successes over the course of the past week, the campaign for marriage equality in NY is far from over. We have only 20 solid “yes” votes of the 32 needed for passage of the bill in the New York State Senate. So here’s what you can do (and yes, we know we’re starting to sound like a broken record but it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, or some clever political, metaphorical equivalent we can’t think of right now):

• Join us on Facebook and share it with your friends
• Follow us on Twitter (#nyequality) and retweet us @goMYD to help spread the word
• If you haven’t already, send a letter to your State Senator urging them to support marriage equality

Ready. Set. Click.

MYD’s newyorkequality.com Hits It Big

THAT’S what I’m talking about.

New Yorkers for Marriage Equality: Take Action!

Today, MYD is attempting to fill the gap in online organizing for same sex marriage in New York. There are tons of local organizations for gay rights, but not one of them has stepped up to the plate and hit Twitter, Facebook and the like on a large, organized scale.

A cohort of dedicated, hard-working MYDers (notably Creative Director Chas Danner and President Al Benninghoff) have been forgoing sleep to make this campaign a reality. It all starts here:

NEW YORKERS for MARRIAGE EQUALITY

It’s time to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT for New York Marriage Equality. The bill to legalize same sex marriage in the great state of New York has passed the State Assembly and is on to the State Senate.

The voices of straight allies for this bill are particularly needed so that the State Senate understands this is not just an LGBT community issue: EQUALITY IS EVERYONE’S ISSUE.

newyorkequality.com gives New Yorkers the tools to make their voices heard. Find information on how you can make a difference. And spread the word–this civil rights issue deserves all the support we can muster.

What you can do RIGHT NOW:

Become a fan of NYers for Marriage Equality on Facebook: http://ow.ly/7OLy and then suggest all your friends in New York also become fans.

Tweet using the hashtag #nyequality and tell us (@gomyd) why you support marriage equality.

What you can when you have TEN MINUTES:

Write your State Senator a letter.

New York is just one step away from making this bill law.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TODAY.

New Yorkers for Marriage Equality is a legislative action project from MYD in partnership with Civil Rights Front; DL21C; Drinking Liberally NY; Empire State Pride Agenda; Human Rights Campaign; Marriage Equality New York; Queens County Young Democrats; and The Albany Project. We welcome new members to our alliance–email us here if you want to join us.

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